Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey is joining 22 other attorneys general and two governors who are suing the Trump administration over the suspension of SNAP benefits amid the ongoing government shutdown.

The lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of illegally refusing to tap into emergency funding for food benefits during the shutdown, with Frey calling the decision “unconscionably cruel and unlawful” in a statement issued Tuesday.

42 million Americans, including nearly 170,000 Mainers, rely on the benefits each month.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said this week the more than $5 billion in contingency funding earmarked for SNAP is not “legally available.”

A plan on the USDA website saying the department is legally obligated to pay SNAP benefits during a shutdown has since been deleted.

Maine Senators Susan Collins, Angus King and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree have called on the administration to tap into the emergency funding.